Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation

In this episode, Leyla sits down with Danesh Nosirvan — the Iranian-American creator known online for identifying perpetrators of public harm and holding them accountable through the court of public opinion. What began as a comedy career took an unexpected turn in 2021, when a single video calling out a child abuser went viral and reshaped the trajectory of his work entirely.
Danesh shares the story of his family's arrival in the U.S. after the revolution, growing up as one of the only Iranian kids in his Southern California school, and the quiet weight of watching his immigrant parents accept mistreatment in order to stay safe. That early sense of injustice, he reflects, is what now fuels his willingness to speak up on behalf of others.
The conversation moves through some of the most difficult chapters of recent Iranian diaspora life: the unifying surge of the Mahsa Amini protests, the painful fracturing that followed October 7th, and the ongoing struggle to maintain moral clarity when communities are pulled in opposite directions. Danesh speaks candidly about the cost of using a large platform to advocate — the stalking, the loss of income, the loneliness of being misread by people on every side — and why he still believes in doing it anyway.
Leyla and Danesh also discuss the cultural reluctance to hold powerful men accountable, the case of Jian Ghomeshi and his quiet rehabilitation in parts of the Iranian community, and what genuine accountability looks like in a media landscape that rewards outrage over reflection. Danesh closes with a meditation drawn from his anthropology studies — the contrast between chimpanzee and bonobo societies — as a lens for thinking about the kind of community we're choosing to build, both as Iranians and as humans.
A warm, honest, and at times uncomfortable conversation about identity, responsibility, and what it means to use your voice with care.

In the fourth part of our discussion about the Tale of Zahhak, Leyla and Dr. Sahba Shayani introduce the story of Fereydoon, who, as we already know by now, eventually kills Zahhak and rules Iran in his place. Zahhak tries in vain to prevent fate, and Fereydoon, even as a child, survives all of Zahhak's attempts to kill him.

In this lesson, we learn from Leyla and Dr. Sahba Shayani about the nature of the evil king Zahhak's reign and the beginning of his downfall.

In this lesson, we continue our discussion of the famous Tale of Zahhak from Ferdowsi's Shahnameh with Dr. Sahba Shayani. Here, having covered the background that led to Zahhak's rise to power, we begin to delve into Zahhak's own story in earnest.

In this lesson, we begin our discussion of the famous Tale of Zahhak from Ferdowsi's Shahnameh with Dr. Sahba Shayani. We use the end of the story of Jamshid as a prelude and begin to learn of how Zahhak becomes an evil king.